The paths we pave
by jullurt
Summary: She knew how she wanted her life to turn out, she wasn't gonna get married or have any kids, but most importantly she wouldn't tell her parents about her secret until she had moved out and she really had to tell them, but she never thought that she would meet the love of her life online at the age of 17.
1. Accepting

**2016**

I looked down at the two silver rings on my left ring finger. The first one, an engament ring, had been there for almost two years. It had a squareshape without any diamonds, just plain and simple. The second one, a wedding ring, had only been there about a month and a half. That ring did have some bling but still simple to match the engament ring. It felt surreal, I am married. How did that happen? When I was in high school I vowed I wouldnt get married or have kids. But here I am, married, and now I cant wait to start a family of my own with the person I love the most in this world. I looked over to my right side and I saw my wife sleeping. I couldn't stop the smile that started to spread on my lips. Sometimes she could sleep in the weirdest positions. Quite often I think back to when we met. It's not what you would call a love story. But it's our love story.

**2011**

When I stepped inside, my mom greeted me with a hug. I had missed her while I was away. I loved my mom, but we didn't get along. We fought everyday, I guess most of it is my fault since I'm pretty much always angry when I'm at home. I always stayed in my room in front of my computer. I had been on vacation with my dad and new wife, (actually, they had been married almost 10 years, so she wasn't so new anymore) and her parents. We had been to Mallorca for a week. It was amazing, it was the first time I was out of the country and the first time I was on a plane. But I'm back to real life again and, soon, back to school. I do like school and I'm looking forward to go back to my old routine. A usual day for me is getting up in the morning, getting ready and eating breakfast, then going to school. I'm happy at school, I get away from my mom and the constant figthing and I get to see my friends. My mom wanted to talk about my trip more than I wanted. I stayed out in the kitchen for a few hours talking and eating before I went to my room.

The first thing I did was turn on my computer. I had barely checked facebook or anything else when I was away. A few years ago I had joined this LGBTQ community, so I could meet others like me. Lesbians. I've never liked that word, I prefer to say gay or that I like girls. Not that I'm telling people. I will when I'm ready. When I was logged in I had two new messages. It was often I would get messages from nasty old men asking if I want to have sex with them. Hell no! This time though it wasn't from any old man. The first one I had received the day after I left for my vacation. It was from a girl I had had some contact with before I left. She was a year younger than me. Sure she was cute but we didn't have much in common and the messages weren't long either. The other message I got was from someone new. I looked at her profile, she was cute, I liked the way she presented herself. I had to write her back.

Days passed. Not long after I had replied to that second girl we switched phone numbers and now we texted each other everyday all day. Too soon it was time to go back to school. But I was happy to see my friends again. I hadn't had the chance to see them much this summer. We are a small group of friends, but I don't need more than that.

First there's Jasper, the only guy in the group. He's tall and skinny and everyone that meets him ask us if he's gay. We just say no. I mean, my gaydar went off the first time I met him too and he totally looks like a closeted gayman. We all think he is gay but since he hasn't come out to us yet we tell people that he isn't gay. He's a little nerdy but he HAS confidence.

Then there's Sophia, she moved here from New York in seventh grade. We went to the same school but we never talked. I barely heard her talk. Sophia is shy, but when you get to know her she's one of the funniest people you will ever meet. She's a vegetarian and really into a healty lifestyle. She had to re-do fifth grade so she's a year older than us. But who cares.

Next we have Isabella, but we call her Bella. She has gotten so used to it that sometimes when a teacher calls her Isabella, she doesn't even respond. It feels weird to call her Isabella, I have actually never done that. To me, she's Bella. She's been with her boyfriend since she was 13 and she's is the only one that knows about my secret.

Lastly there's me. I'm the kind of person that says whatever comes to mind. Talk first think later is my motto. I don't like being the center of attention but I'm not afraid to point people out, if I'm gonna talk about a certain person, good or bad, I talk first and then look to see if that person is near. My motto, talk first think later. I don't care if people talk about, or if they stare at me. Well mostly I don't care, I just care about my secret not being spread around school. My secret? I like girls. Im not ready to come out yet. The only person that know is Bella, and she guessed. I'm pretty sure Jasper and Sophia knows too but they haven't said anything. I'll tell them when I'm ready. When it comes to telling my parents, I dont think I'll ever be ready for that. When I first figured out that I liked girls, I decided I would tell my parents when there is something to tell them about. Like a girlfriend. I've never had one, too scared to talk to girls because most of the time I have no idea if they're into girls or not. I feel more comfortable talking to them in writing, and that is why texting is the best invention.

As soon as I walked through the doors and into the hallway I was pulled in too a bone-crushing hug. I felt a familiar scent and I knew exactly who it was. The person pulled away and I got too see my best friend whom I hadn't seen in almost two months.

"Oh my god! I've missed you so so so much!" Bella said. She pulled me in toanother hug. "I don't ever want to be apart from you again"

"I missed you too, you have no idea how much." I said as we pulled out of the hug. "Have you seen Jasper and Sophia yet?" I asked. I had missed them too and couldn't wait until the four of us were reunited again. We all became friends our freshman year. I had met Bella first period, which had been math. We sat next to each other and right away became friends, it was like we had known each other for years. Next I met Sophia, since we had gone to the same school before I recogonized her, she and Bella shared a class and the three of us ate lunch together the first day and since then we had been friends. Jasper didn't come in to our group until after christmas break. I had seen him around, we had history, biology and spanish together. He had always been alone, walking by himself in the hallways and he never ate in the cafeteria. School had started again after the break and me, Bella and Sophia were on our way to eat lunch when I saw him in the hallway, alone. I felt sorry for him so I asked if he was going to eat lunch in the cafeteria and he responded that he was just gonna go to the library, where he always ate his lunch. I wasn't gonna let him eat alone anymore so I said something like "Fuck the library, you are coming with us to eat". I think he mostly tagged along cause he got scared, but it didn't matter cause after that lunch was sacred to us. We always have a lot of fun together, we sometimes get into arguments about stuff and Jasper and I fight like an old married couple. But it always ends with all of us laughing together and having a blast.

"Yeah I have, they're at your locker wating for us" Bella said.

We walked down the hallway to where my locker was, the hallway was packed with students. Everyone wanted to say hi to all the people they hadn't seen all summer and there were also the freshmans who had no idea where they were supposed to go and most of them just stood there looking confused. When we approached my locker, I could hear Jasper telling Sophia about his summer. It sounded like he had had a good one. When Bella and I got closer and we could see them, Jasper looked our way. He pulled me into a hug, not as hard as the one I had gotten from Bella, but it was firm and warm. I had to stand on my toes to hug him properly, because he was very tall.

"I've missed you guys" I said and hugged Sophia.

"We've missed you too" Sophia said.

"I dont know if I've missed you in particular. But I have missed your humour" Jasper said and started to laugh. We were all so close that we could make a joke about anyone of us and no one would take it personal. We would laugh and say something back.

"I knew you were just using me for my funny jokes and comments. Well I'm only friends with you because your height may come in handy when I can't reach stuff that's up high" I joked back. Jasper had definitely became a friend I new I would have for the rest of my life. Both Bella and Sophia as well of course. No matter where we would end up next year. "I can't believe this is our senior year." I said sadly.

"I know, it feels like yesterday I walked through those doors for the first time." Sophia said and pulled out her books from her locker that were right next to mine.

"We have to make sure this year will be a memorable year for us. A year we will look back on when we are old and grey. A year we talk about when we have out monthly hangout next year" Jasper sounded motivated to make this year the best one so far.

"Yeah, absolutely! I'm in" Bella said with a huge smile.

Sophia closed her locker and turned around. "Me too. Sure I can't wait to start college, but I have been waiting a year more than the three of you. But this year will be epic for us"

They looked at me waiting for my answer. "What about you Santana? Are you in for an epic, awesome and memorable year?" Jasper asked. He already knew my answer, they all did. They knew I wasn't one to pass on something I would be remembering forever.

"Hell yeah I'm in!" Right then the bell rang and we had to go to class. Bella and Sophia went to the gym as they had P.E first period. Jasper and I went in the opposite direction, our first period we had history. We didnt have to make plans about lunch, it was an unspoken rule that we always had lunch together.

When Jasper and I sat down my phoned beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket, it was a text from the girl I hade been talking to for almost two months now. She was funny and she understood me. Jasper tried to me smooth about sneaking a peek on my phone but I saw him do it and I turned to him so he wouldnt see the text.

"Who was that from?" He asked. I could see on his face that he saw it was from a girl.

"Oh, just this.. Uhm... this person I met during summer" I had started to write a reply, so I wasn't prepared for it when Jasper snatched the phone out of hands. "Hey! What the fuck Jasper, give it back!"

"Let's see what we got here" he said. I tried to reach for it but his arms were to long.

"Please give it back" I pleaded. I knew he wouldn't care of the fact I like girls, but it was a sensetive subject. Coming out is difficult. I could see it on his that he had figured it out by reading the texts between me and this girl. "Can I have it back now?"

"I'm sorry" he sounded sincere. "I'm not surprised actually. I had a feeling, but why haven't you told me? I'm one of your best friends, don't you trust me?" now he sounded sad.

"Of course I trust you Jasper. All three of you. But this kind of thing is hard even admitting to myself and this summer I fully admitted it." I whispered.

"I understand that."

"Yeah you of all people should" I said, a smile creeping on my face.

"You know?" he asked and looked around him to make sure nobody was listening to out conversation.

"Yeah. Bella and Sophie knows too. We've pretty much known since freshman year."

"Oh. I didn't think it was that obvious"

"You are who you are. Embrace it" I said and stroked him on the arm.

"I could say the same thing to you" he said pointing at my phone.

"I am. At least I'm trying"

Jasper opened his mouth and was just about to say something when out teacher walked in. We looked at each other and silently said that we hadn't finished talking. How had I been so lucky to have such awesome friends? They accepted me for who I truly am. I thought about telling my mom, but it scared me. I didn't think she would be too happy about it.


	2. Family

Every single one of my teachers has been telling me that I should enjoy my senior year. How am I supposed to do that when they keep handing me all these assignments? School just started, a week ago, and I have like a ton of homework that needs to be done and handed in on monday. Well, there goes my weekend, which was going to start of this epic year with my friends. I let out a string of bad words as I close my locker with a loud bang. I was alone in the hallway, and even if there WAS anyone, I wouldn't have cared if they heard. The books that I had taken out of my locker were being stuffed down my bag.

"Fucking book, just get down there you piece of shit!" I was frustrated. I didn't care if I got homework, but the first week? Really?

"Watch out with the swearing Santana, or I'll have to wash your mouth with soap" Jasper said and leaned against the lockers. He loved sneaking up on me and scaring me. Usually I would jump and scream, not being prepared, but this time I was too angry to be scared.

"Yeah, whatever" I replied. I wasn't in the mood for jokes right now, I just wanted to go home and get this shit done.

"Everything okay?" he asked. It wasn't like i tried to hide the fact that I was pissed off right now, but if I wanted to hide it, I could. Even then, Jasper could always tell what was up with me. He could read me like an open book. Sometimes, that could be scary, like when I didn't want anyone to know, but most of the times, it came in handy. I'm not the kind of person that likes talking about my feelings, I'd rather keep them inside. So he just had to look me in the eyes and he would know right away.

"I think you already know the answer to that" I snapped. I didn't mean to. He knew that, his face fell for just a second before he gave me a soft smile.

"I do. Is it the homework you have gotten this week that makes you angry?" he asked sincerely.

"Yeah. I have homework in four subjects. I'm sorry but you'll have to start of this year without me. I have to study" I said. We started walking down the hallway to the entrance and Jasper put his arm around me as we walked.

"There's no way in hell we are going to have fun without you" he said and opened the door for us. "We'll help you with everything and you'll be done in no time and after we can celebrate that and start off this year. Sounds good?"

"That sounds great. I need your brilliant minds right now" I said as he pulled me into a hug.

"We would do anything for you, and you would do the same for anyone of us" he said quitely.

It's true. I would do anything for my friends. We're like family. To me family isn't all about who you are related to. To me, family is the people WHO love you for you, they never try to change you into someone they want you to be. They accept all your flaws no matter how bad those flaws may be. I think of my best friends as my family, I love them and I wouldn't want to change anything about them.

"Besides" he said and pulled away from the hug. "It's not as fun making fun of you if you're not there" he said and chuckled.

"Wow thank you Jasper" Maybe this weekend wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Seriously Santana you should know this!" Bella said furiously. They had been helping me with the same subject for two hours. Bella, Jasper and Sophia had come over right away to help me with the studying, we had started with history and then spanish, but I didn't need any help with that, I'm fluent. Now we had moved on to math, which wasn't my strongest subject, in fact I almost had an F in math. I never understood geometry and when you should use pi or any other formula or anything else really.

"I just don't understand why this minus all of a sudden turns into a plus" I was frustraded with Bella. She knew I wasn't good at math, why did she get so angry?

"Because Santana, we learned this in seventh grade!" Bella said almost screaming.

"Okay! Calm the hell down you two" Jasper stepped in and stopped the argument that was building. "Bella, relax, breath okay" He said and then looked over at me. "And Santana, I can't explain it but that's the rule of math sometimes. Things aren't always explainable. Okay?" He explained to me calmly.

"Okay, but when am I gonna use this ever?" I asked. It wasn't my dream to become a math genius or anything like that.

"Never. Unless you have a job that involves math, or if you have kids and they need help with this" Sophia said. Whenever Bella and I fought or when me and Jasper fought she would back off. She didn't like confrontations, she would rather turn the other cheek and just avoid arguing. But whenever I was angry or frustrated with something she was an expert at making me calm.

"Can we stop this now? My head hurts, I need to do something fun" I couldn't think anymore, I needed to get out of my room and out of the house. I needed to do something fun with my friends. "I say we should start off this year now"

"Yeah I think that is a great idea. Let's go and have some fun!" Sophia agreed.

I looked at Jasper and I didn't have to ask, I could tell by the way he smiled he was in. "Bella?" I looked over at her. "You in for some serious fun?" I asked. She looked unsure at first but after a few seconds she cracked a smile.

"Of course I'm in" she pulled out her phone and started clicking on it. "I just have to call Evan. He texted me before I got here and asked if I wanted to hang out" Bella stepped out of the room to make her call.

"So, got any ideas?" I asked Jasper and Sophia.

"I heard that Puck is having a party, how about we start our night there?" Jasper asked and looked at me and Sophia. Puck was on the fotball team and one of the popular people in school. Also he was in glee club, which really was a geek club. Dancing and singing showchoir, I joined my sophmore year. I liked it, I loved to sing, but before I joined I only sang in my room or in the shower, alone.

"Yeah that could be fun. We go there, dance, drink, talk have some fun. Then we move on to something else" Sophia said.

"Absolutely" I said. "It sounds like a plan"

The three of us went down the stairs, we had been waiting in my room for Bella to come back but it had been almost half an hour so we decided to go see what took her so long. When we got down the stairs she sat on the sofa still talking to her boyfriend. It sounded like he wasnt too happy she wouldn't spend any time with him tonight.

"Hey Bella! Are you ready to go?" Sophia asked. Bella didn't hear us coming down the stairs so she was startled and jumped in her seat when Sophia called her.

"Uhm.. yeah. You can go outside I'll be right there" she said and turned back to talking with Evan.

We had been sitting in the car for at least 10 minutes. What was taking so long, she had already talked with him half an hour before we went out here. "Did she die or something?" I asked clearly irritated. I wanted to get to this party before everyone was totally wasted.

"I was just gonna ask the same thing" Jasper said, also irritated.

"Should we go check on her ?" I asked. We all knew Evan had a temper, maybe Bella was trying to make him calm down. That could take a while.

"I'll go" Sophia said and stepped out of the car. Jasper and I saw her go inside my house. A few more minutes passed and there were no sign of Bella or Sophia.

"Come on! What the fuck are they doing in there" I was getting angry now. I hated to wait, I didnt have the patience to wait for more than a few minutes.

"I'll go and check" Jasper said. Just as he was about to get out of the car the front door opened and Sophia and Bella came out and walked towards the car.

"Finally, what took you so long?" I asked and started the car as soon as they closed the door.

"He was angry that I wasn't gonna go over to his house after I had been here" Bella said quietly.

"Didn't you tell him that we had plans?" Jasper asked Bella.

"I forgot to tell him. I've had som much on my mind this week it just slipped" she explained. Bella did have alot to think about. She and Evan are getting married in May. Sure it's like eight months left but a wedding takes a lot of planning and no she wasn't pregnant. Me and Sophia along with Bella's oldest sister had gotten the honour of being bridesmaids.

"Well fuck him. He's not gonna ruin our night or our weekend" I said.

We arrived at Puck's house, there were no chance you would've gone to the wrong house. There were cars parked everywhere, people on the front lawn, red solo cups scattered around, not to mention the music that was blasting through the house.

"Here we are" I said as I parked my car. "Even a deaf-blind person would know there is a party here. The grounds shaking from the bass" I stated as the four of us walked up to the door of Puck's house. The door was open so we just walked right in, of course we were invited. "I'm gonna go and get a drink" I said.

"I'll come with you" Jasper said and took my hand so we wouldn't get lost in the crowd of people. "It looks like the entire school is here!" he yealled over the music.

"Only the important ones!" I yelled back. We made our way to the kitchen, where Puck, Finn and a few other glee club members hanged out. The music was significant lower in here.

"Look who it is!" Puck exclamaited when he saw me and Jasper. "It's the beards" he said laughing. Earlier that week both me and Jasper kind of had come out to the glee club. They were all very accepting, and they promised not to tell anyone. Puck had been drinking which made him tell the truth. Luckily it was only glee club member in here. It had felt good to tell more people about my secret.

"Puck be nice" Quinn said.

"I am nice. I'm just keeping it real" he said with a faux ghetto voice.

"You're just mad that you will never get on this" I said and pointed to my body.

"Well, yeah. Lezpez you have smoking hot body. Sure you're gay?" he asked with a wink.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure" I said and fake gagged.

I took out to red solo cups, the first one I filled with vodka and some 7-up and gave it to Jasper. The second cup was a rum and coke. My favourite.

"So, Santana" Quinn stepped closer. "How are things?" she asked. Quinn could be a mean bitch, she had become nicer over years but from time to time she would release her inner bitch.

"Things are good, great even" I said and took a sip of my rum and coke.

"Have you told you're parents yet?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. Why is she asking me that? Quinn and I were friends but I didn't consider us that close. "No I haven't yet" I said. "Why?"

"Just wondering. You know glee club will always be there for you" and with that she walked away dragging her newest boyfriend with her. I stood there watching Quinn as she left the kitchen. Why did she seem to care so much all of a sudden? My thoughts were broken by a buzz in my pocket. I took out my phone to see what it was, it was a text. It was from that girl I had met on the internet.

"Are you having fun? :)" she wrote.

"Just got here, but so far so good. Wish you could be here so I could meet you ;)" I quickly texted back. I did wish she could be here, I wanted to meet her to see if she is like I'm imagine her to be. My phone buzzed.

"Oh yeah? Would you talk to me if I was there?" What did she mean by that, why wouldn't I talk to her? I was just about to write a reply when my phone got snatched from my hands. I looked up from my hands to see who it was that took it. Infront of me stood Jasper with the phone in his hand.

"Looking for this?" he asked and held the phone up, just then it buzzed indicating I had gotten a new text. "Who could that be" he tried to unlock the phone, thank god for password protection.

"Jasper" I said threatening. "Give me the phone" I held my hand up for him to put the phone in. Instead he put my phone in his pocket and dragged me by the arm upstairs away from the loud music and the crowd of people. He led me into a bathroom and locked the door behind us.

"It's time to finish our conversation from earlier this week" he started. "Who is this girl?" he asked.

"It's nobody" I tried to quickly grab my phone out of his pocket but he was faster then me.

"I don't think so" he said as he held a my arm in a lock. "I saw you smile at your phone before I took it from you. This girl is someone and you like her so just tell me"

"I will when you let go of my arm" I hissed. He immediately realeased my arm and pulled out the phone. "I met her online this summer. We switched phone numbers and we text each other all the time. I don't know how I feel about her, I haven't met her in real life yet" I said and leaned against the bathroom sink. "There's nothing more to tell"

"Why haven't you told us about this? You came out to the glee club two days ago and me and Bella and Sophia have known that you are into girls since forever. I understand that this is something that's hard telling other people but really, the hardest part, telling people you're gay, is over. You've done that. I know you dont like talking about your feelings and I get that talking to this girl gives you some feelings that you are scared to share, even with your best friends" he looked me straight in the eye, he gave me my phone back before he continued. "You need to open up more Santana, if you can't open up to me, who can read you like a book, then how will you be able to open up to love?"

He didn't let me answer before he unlocked the door and he was gone. I just stood there, I couldn't move. He was right, how am I supposed to love someone if I can't open up properly about my feelings. Even with my best friends it's hard, and I love them. They are a part of my family. My phone buzzed, it was another next from this girl. "Did you fall alseep already? ;)" she wrote. She always made me smile when I read her text messages, even if they weren't funny.

"Haha! No the night is still young" I replied. I knew I had to look for Jasper and apologize to him. He had my best interest, I knew that.


	3. Beards and hurting shoulders

The paths we pave - Chapter 3 - Beards and hurting shoulders

I don't know how long I had been in here, it felt like only seconds had passed since Jasper left. His words kept echoing inside my head, "You need to open up more Santana, if you can't open up to me, who can read you like a book, then how will you be able to open up to love?" He was right, he knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. When I got out of the bathroom I was met with a long line that went all the way down the stairs. I walked by Sophia in the middle of the line.

"Hey, where have you been? I have barely seen you since we came here" she said. She was tipsy, it took alot of alcohol to get Sophia drunk, that was something I had learned over the years we had been friends.

"Well you and Bella just disappeared" I said and looked around for Bella, but I couldn't see her anywhere. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Oh, last time I saw her she was downstairs with Jasper" The line was moving forward and Sophia had to move along with it.

"I'm gonna go look for them, I'll see you later!" I said and started walking. When I came downstairs I saw the sea of people. It was more people here now than it was when we first arrived, this couldn't only be students at our school. I had no idea how I was supposed to find them among all these people. I dived into the dancing crowd, pushing on people, trying to get to my first destination, the kitchen. As I had espected, there were many people in the kitchen, but none of them were Jasper or Bella. As I turned around to go back to the living room and look for them, someone came from the doorway on the other side of the kitchen and called my name.

"Santana!"

I closed my eyes heard as I recognized the voice, I didn't want to deal with this right now. I turned around and put on my best fake smile. "Hey" I said. The person had come closer now and stood infront of me, closer than what I was comfortable with.

"Funny running in to you here" he said a huge smile on his lips.

"Yeah so fun" I said, that sounded totally fake. He didn't seem to notice though. It was funny, I never thought I would see this guy ever again. I lived in Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, the population is like 800.000 and this guy isn't even from here. I met him last summer after my sophmore year ended when my family was on holiday in New York. At that time, I was still trying to figure out things about myself, I wasn't sure what gender I liked. He was there, I was unsure and I used him to experiment. He was actually my first kiss, I had saved it for someone I truly liked and someone I could have a relationship with. Thinking back on it now, I never had any feeling towards him, I didn't even like him like that. After that first kiss I felt it wasn't right, it felt wrong and I knew that I liked girls. I never had the guts to tell him about how I felt, so, when we had to go back to Columbus I just avoided him. He tried texting and calling me for weeks after I had gotten home. It felt somewhat embarrasing now meeting him here after not talking with him since that summer in New York. I truly thought I would never see him, but he lived in Lima and that was just a few hours from here. I guess I need to think about my karma and do good.

"How have you been?" he asked, he opened up his arms for a hug. It was an awkward one to say the least.

"I've been good" I tried not make eyecontact with him. This whole encounter was awkward enough. "You?"

"Yeah I've been fine" There it was, the most awkward silence ever in the history of awkward silences. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well I live here, I know Puck we go to the same school" I said and tried looking around for Puck or any other of my friends. Anyone, just to get me out of this conversastion.

"Really? I know Puck too" he said. "He's my half brother actually." For the first time during our conversation I looked him directly into his eyes. Did he just say Puck was his half brother?

"Uh, excuse me? Did you say Puck is your.." I pointed at him for emphazing. "..half brother?" I asked, clearly shocked. Puck had never mentioned him at all, and he usually talked a lot about himself. You would think this is something that would've come up.

"We haven't known it for long. I found out a few weeks ago and I wanted to seek him out and get to know him"

"Oh" I didn't know what to say, just as fast as the conversation had gotten interesting, it turned boring and awkward again. We stood there for a minute glancing at each other, not knowing what to say, that's when I saw a glimpse of Jasper outside.

"...dance?" I turned my attention back to the guy infront of me. What did he say?

"Sorry what?"

"I asked if you wanted to dance. With me" he smiled. Oh did he think I liked him? The way he is looking at me determined that was true. I cringed at the thought of touching him let alone ever kissing him again. Just as I was gonna decline his offer I felt an arm around my waist, I looked to my right and saw Jasper. Oh thank you lord!

"Hey stranger. Where have you been? I've looked everywhere for you" he said worried. I caught on pretty quickly on what he was doing. Whenever we saw each other uneasy we would save each other prentending being a couple. We were each others beards when needed. Now this was a moment I needed my beard.

"Oh I'm sorry babe. There was a long line to the bathroom and then I ran into an old friend" I said and moved closer to Jasper.

"Oh hi there. Sorry I didn't see you" Jasper said and stretched out his arm for a handshake. He was really polite when he met new people. "I'm Jasper"

"Hi, I'm Connor"

"Well nice to meet you Connor" Jasper said. His grip tightening around my waist.

"How long have you been a couple?" Connor asked and took a sip of his beer.

"We've been together since freshmen year" Jasper said enthusiasticlly. I saw Connor grin when he heard Jasper say that. Shit, I met Connor after sophmore year and kissed him. Fuck. "How long have you known each other?" Jasper asked

"Oh we met during the summer after sophomore year" I said and looked at Jasper. He quickly understood that someting had happaned between me and Connor and he understood that this whole beard thing could be revealed now if he didn't play his cards right.

"Yeah, in New York. It was one of the best weeks in my life actually" Connor said. Oh he was enjoying this I could tell. He thought he was gonna split us up. "In fact we both had a great week. My favorite part, I don't know about you Santana, but my favorite part was when you kissed me" he said smugly. "Remember that?"

"Yeah I remember that" I didnt want to look at him. Right now he disgusted me. What was he playing at here.

"Did she tell you that? Jasper"

"Yes, she told me about it, we tell each other everything you know. Connor" Jasper said back. I had to get Jasper out of here or this could get ugly.

"Okay, let's go honey, let's find our friends" I said and dragged Jasper away from there. I didn't stop until I had found an empty room. I found a spare bedroom on the second floor and dragged Jasper inside before I closed the door.

"Seriosly I think you dislocated my shoulder with your dragging!" Jasper said and rubbed his shoulder. I heard the pain in his voice, his eyes red and he looked like he would start crying any second now.

"If you want I can pop it back in the socket again" I offered and stepped closer to him.

"Oh hell no! I will never let you do that to me again!" He got up from where he was sitting so fast that you would think the chair was on fire. Last year Jasper had a pretty nasty fall from a horse and dislocated his shoulder. We called an ambulance, but the operator said all ambulances were busy with a car crash. None of us had our cars with us so we couldn't drive him to the hospital, and it was too far to walk, since the nearest hospital was nowhere near. I told him I could totally pop it back, it would make the pain go away. After some convincing, he let me try, I googled how to pop back a dislocated shoulder and I tried doing like google said. It took a few tries before the shoulder was back in the socket. That was the first time I ever saw him cry.

"Oh come on. I fixed it didn't I?"

"Well yeah, but it hurts like a bitch and it hurts even more when you move it. At the hospital they can numb it" he said backing away from me as I walked forward.

"Jasper, just let me do it!" I started chasing him around the room.

"Aooch! No, I don't want to you to! It hurts" now he was definietly crying. "You made me cry" he sobbed.

"No, it's you running around the room making it worse. I just want to help" I said and stopped running. I wanted to help but I didn't want to make it worse by making him run around. There was a knock on the door and Sophia popped her head in.

"There you guys are!" she pulled her head back and we could here yell. "Bella! I found them!" Both Sophia and Bella came into the room, they saw Jaspers shoulder and Bella shook her head smiling.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked still smiling.

"Well, Satan here dragged me and I dislocated my shoulder and now she wants to "fix" it" he said.

"I can fix it" I said. "Right?" I asked Bella and Sophia. They both looked at me unsure of what to say. "I have done it before. Just let me fix it and the pain will go away. I promise" I was really close to start begging right now. I really wanted to help him pop it back in so he wouldn't have to go to the hospital and sit there and wait for God knows how long before a doctor would see him.

"I'd rather go to the hospital!" Jasper cried.

"At the hospital you would have to wait for a doctor, and that could take time. Even take hours, do you wanna be in pain for that long? Not to mention the hospital would call your parents. Do you want to worry them?" I asked.

"He's 18 so the hospital wouldn't call anybody actually. Since it's not life threatening" Bella said. I knew that, I just tried to make Japser change his mind about going to the hospital.

"Come on Jasper, you don't want to go home now do you?" I asked and took a step closer to him. "End this epic weekend right now by going to a hospital? Right?"

"Well, no..." he said. Jasper loved to party and hang out with us doing all sorts of crazy stuff we could come up with. "But I wouldn't have to, we could still hang out the rest of the weekend and make it awesome" he said.

"No, going to the hopsital means they would tell you to take it easy and not doing fun stuff with us" I said. "Am I right?" I asked Bella and Sophia.

"She has a point, Jasper" Sophia said. "If you let Santana fix it, we could continue partying tonight and still do all the things we want this weekend" she continued.

Jasper sat down on the bed. He was thinking about his choices, he wanted to keep partying and still do stuff this weekend. But he was unsure of letting me help him, cause he knew it would hurt, but on the other hand it would be over faster. It would take time going to the hospital and waiting there would take time.

"Okay" he said nodding. "Okay Santana. You can pop it back" he said confident.

"Oh right!" I pumped my fist in the air. I was excited.  
>_<p>

Review and let me know what you think!


	4. Good Morning

The paths we pave - Chapter 4 - Good Morning

I've got a few reviews about not being enough Brittana interactions. I know, but it's coming, the story only just begun. I want to thank my beta for improving my writing.  
>If you like it please review!<p>

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><p>Like Garfield, I hated mondays. Studies have shown that, on average, a person doesn't crack a smile until around 11 o'clock on mondays. It's the most depressing day after sunday. Sundays are worst, there's nothing on tv, usually I'm hungover or really, really tired after friday's and saturday's events. I'm not a morning person, I like to snooze and I do it for about an hour before I get up. I need to wake up slowly, snoozing helps me with that, I don't understand people who set the alarm to when they have to get up, and then just get up right away. Those people are insane, if I didn't snooze I would walk around half asleep all day. My alarm signal was the song Mr. Saxobeat, so now I absolutely hate that song. Right now, hearing it for the fourth time this morning coming from my phone made me want to take my phone and just throw it on the floor so it would shatter and never make a sound again. There was a knock on the door, and as always my mom would come in to my room in the morning to see if I was up, and if I wasn't she would threaten me by saying she would pour water on me if I didn't get up the same second. She's never done it to me.<p>

"Are you up?" she asked and looked inside the room. I turned around in my bed to face the door.

"Yeah I'm awake. Be there in a few minutes" I mumbled. Why is the bed so comfortable when you have to get up? Right this moment and every other morning I wish I could stay in my bed forever. Every morning before I got out of bed I would check my phone to see if I had any texts. This morning was the first one without a good morning text. Maybe she got to sleep in today. I decided not to think about it too much. Instead, I got out of bed to get ready for a new school week.

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><p>"How is you shoulder?" I asked Jasper as I sat down on my desk. First period I had history with Jasper. He had complained about pain in his shoulder after friday night when it got dislocated.<p>

"It's better, my mom took me to see the doctor yesterday. How is your finger?" he asked and pointed to my hand.

"It's not good. It's broken actually" I said. I had broken my pinkie this weekend, after I had popped Jaspers shoulder back, we left the party. I didn't have much to drink so I was good to drive, first we stopped by a fast food restaurant to get some food, there wasn't much choice, really. There was only one place that had vegetarian options. For a while we drove around until we ended up by the lake. It was September so it was cold, however, we decided to go for a swim. The water was so cold that I lost feeling in both my hands. As we were getting back in the car, I couldn't open the door myself so Jasper helped me open it. He looked away when he shut the car door, he thought I was in the car, the door got smashed on my hand and my pinkie and ring finger took the hit. Thank god I didn't have any feeling in my fingers so it didn't hurt. Not until the next day. On saturday I woke up with a throbbing pain in my fingers, the fingers and the area around had gotten a blueisH and yellowish color, and the fingers were swollen. My mom took me to the doctor and they x-rayed me. When the results came back, both fingers were broken. So now I walked around with a cast.

"Yeah I figured, it looked pretty bad on saturday" Jasper said with a hint of guilt in his voice. After all he did close the door on my hand, but I didn't hold that against him. I know he didn't do it on purpose.

"I hate wearing this cast. It's hot in there and it itches and I don't know how to make it stop" I said, frustrated. I had tried putting things down the cast so I could scratch myself, so far I had tried with pencils and paintbrushes, but those items weren't sharp enough to make the itch go away. I even contemplated sticking a knife down cause I though it would be shaped right, but after giving it a second though I decided that it wasn't safe. "I don't remember it being this difficult and itchy last time I had a cast"

"You've broken bones before?" Jasper asked.

"Haven't I told you guys about that?"

"No, I don't think so. Not that I remember anyway" he said. I must've forgotten to tell them about the time I broke my pinkie toe. I was around five or six years old. I was barefoot going down a slide, one of the biggest mistakes of my life, the slide had an rounded edge at the walls on the sides, I had parted my legs a bit as I went down the slide. Everything happened really fast, it wasn't until I was at the bottom that I understood what had happened. My left pinkietoe pointed alot to the left and there were some blood. I was the only one outside at the moment so nobody had seen what had happened. So, half limping I went inside and into the kitchen, where my mother was. When I saw her, I started to cry. She asked what was wrong, she had not seen my toe yet. I pointed down to my feet, I cried so much I couldn't form any words. She was shocked to say the least. After asking me if I was okay she called my father to tell him what had happened and that he should meet us at the hospital. I dont remember much after that. The memories I have from the first hospital is dark and feels like something out of a horror movie, with people holding me down as I screamed my lungs out. I remember they tried to numb my toe and foot with a needle, which made me scream and cry even more. They weren't able to do much and the doctors decided they should send me to another hospital. Me and my dad went in an ambulance to another hospital, my memories from then on are bright and happy. I got to pick the color of my cast, I chose red, I wanted pink but they didn't have that color. They put me to sleep and when I woke up I had a red cast on my left foot.

"I never thought it was possible to break a toe going down a slide" Jasper said, "But then I met you Santana, and now I know nothing's impossible" he continued.

"Well, aren't you funny today mister!" I said as we both started to laugh. We turned our attention towards the teacher as he started off todays lesson. A few minutes had passed and our teacher Mr. Harvey was going on and on about the world war II, that was when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Slowly, I pulled it up to read the text, hoping it was from her.

_"Good morning! :) Sorry it's so late, I overslept this morning and I haven't had time or a chance to text you until now. I hope you will have a great day! xoxo"_

It was the text I had been waiting for since I woke up this morning, I knew she hadn't forgotten about me. I hadn't realized how big my smile was until Jasper gave a nudge bringing me back to the history lesson. He smiled knowingly before he turned his attention.

_"Good morning to you too. I have waited all morning for this text ;) xoxo" _I tried to focus on Mr. Harvey, but it was hard when I could feel my phone buzz. I just couldn't not read the texts I was receiving.

_"I guess you're in class, but I've missed you. You were busy during the weekend :(" _I guess we didn't text much during the weekend. I moved on reading the next one I got. _"I wish I could meet you"_

_"Sorry about the weekend, stuff happened :/ I wish I could meet you too" _I replied. I had my in my lap, staring at it, waiting to receive another text.

"Santana?" I jolted my head up in Jaspers direction, it wasn't him who had called my name, I could tell by his facial expression. "Santana!" I heard again. I turned my head towards the front where stood, looking at me. I knew I was in trouble. He started walking towards me, when he only had a few more steps he reached out his hand. Reluctantly I have him the phone. "You'll get in back at the end of the class" he said and walked back to keep going with the lesson.

The bell rang indicating the end of first period. I quickly gathered my books and stuffed them in my bag. I was in a hurry getting my phone back.

"Hey, slow down" Jasper called, but I was already at the front with .

"Santana, I dont ever want to catch you with your phone in my class ever again. Understood?" Mr. Harvey said.

"Yeah I understand. I'm sorry" I would've agreed to anything at this point just to get my phone back.

I had gotten three new text messages. All from her, I unlocked my phone to read them when Jasper caught up with me.

"Hey, why didn't you wait for me?" he asked. Oh, I had totally forgotten about him.

"I'm sorry Jasper, I forgot" I said apologetically.

"You forgot I was sitting next to you?" he said almost angry. "This girl better be something if she gets you to forget the real world" he said. She was something special, I didn't know in which way but I couldn't go one day without any contact with her.

"I said I was sorry. Do you want me to beg?" I asked. "And why are you so upset about it?" I knew this conversation was about to get heated. When me and Jasper fought, it couldn't not get heated or loud.

"Begging would be nice! I'm upset because you forgot about me, sitting right next to you! Me, your best friend. And when I called after you you ingored me. Thats why I'm upset!" he was shouting now. His eyes were black and veins started to pop in his forehead and on his neck. People had started to gather around in the hallway, wondering what was going on.

"Okay, calm down Jasper. I'm really, really sorry. Okay? I didn't hear you, I swear" I said calmly. I put my hands on his arms, trying to make him calm down. Usually when he got this angry something else had happened. "Why don't we go somewhere and talk you and me" I started to lead him away from the curious eyes that was looking at us.

I decided that the most private place for us to talk would be in my car, after I had shut the car door I turned to look at Jasper. He had calmed down but I could still see he was angry.

"Tell me" I said. He sat there quietly, looking out the front window, but I could tell he wasn't present. "I know you Jasper. You dont get that angry with me without there being something else that has happened" I said. He didn't move. "Just tell me!" I grabbed his arm and for the first time in what felt like hours he turned his head towards me.

"He contacted my brother" he said. I didn't understand, and he didn't continue. We sat in silent for a few minutes.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked when he still didn't say anything.

"My father" Jasper had told us a lot about himself. What his life had been life when he was little. He weren't abused or anything, when he was six he moved into a foster home. His foster parents are great and they love him like their own son. He doesn't see his mother very much, only on birthdays mostly. Jasper had two sisters and one brother, his father had left them when he was little and he haven't talked or seen him since. Founding out his father had contacted his brother made him sad and disapointed.

"Oh" That was the only thing that could come out of my mouth right now. I didn't know what to say.

"Apparently he is back here in Colombus" he said.

"Can't you talk to your brother and ask if he could help you talk your father?" I asked. I wanted to help him, seeing him like this really hurt.

"I don't know if I want to see him. Maybe he knows about me. I don't know, I'm better off without him I got my foster parents. Did I tell you that they're gonna adopt me?" he said. He sounded much happier now.

"Really? That's awesome Jasper. Maybe it's for the best to think of them as your real parents"

"Yeah I know. I'm sorry I shouted like that" he apologized.

"It's okay. Honestly, I could see it wasn't me that made you that angry" We gave each other a hug, the best way you could sitting in a car.

"Thank you for always being there for me" he said. "I love you, you know" we broke away from the hug and I could see a single tear escaping from his eye.

"I love you too Jasper"

"Well I'm gonna go inside, are you coming?" he opened the car door and got out.

"No, I'm gonna do something first. I'll see you inside" I said. He smiled, he knew I had got a few texts.

"Alright, don't be long or I'll have to call the cops" he said and closed the door. In just a few steps he was inside the school. When I saw him go inside I took out my phone to read the texts.

_"Do you really mean that?", "Maybe we should plan something ;)", "I wish we lived closer too"_

I had a few minutes before second period started, so I quickly replied.

_"Sorry for the wait. Teacher saw me texting and took my phone. I really mean it, I would love to meet you someday xoxo"_


	5. Birthday

Sorry for the long wait, both me and my Beta have been busy. But I promise the next chapter will be up much faster! :) And as always, read, review, fave and all that. Thank you!  
>_<p>

**October 15th 2011**

This morning I woke up hearing someone sing. At first it was faint, but I could hear it coming closer. When it was close enough for me to hear what song it was, it dawned on me. Today is my birthday. I'm turning 18 today. A tradition in our home IS breakfast in bed no matter what day of the week one, maybe two gifts. The whole family had to participate. Lucky me, it's saturday, and that means all my brothers could come home. My oldest brother, Daniel, is 24. After high school he went to college here in Columbus, but he dropped out after only a few months and took a job as a mechanic in Portland. Mom wasn't too happy about that, her oldest son moving far away and dropping out of college. Next is Oscar, he's 22. Like his older brother, he didn't graduate from college. In fact, he never even went to college. As soon as he graduated from high school, he packed his bags and moved to Los struggled to find a job his first year there, but ultimately got a job as a painter. Not the artsy type, no. He paints houses and re-paint rooms in peoples houses. He never planned moving there, he just wanted to get out of Ohio. That's what he's like, he never plans anything. Knowing him, I'm surprised he even remembers my birthday, mom must've reminded him. Then there is the second youngest of the siblings, after me, Sebastian. He's only two years older than me, so he is 20. After graduation he moved to Atlanta to work for our uncle who has a carpenter buisness there. None of my brothers went to college, so I'm hoping to be the first one.

I pretended to be asleep when they entered my room. I know they know I'm awake, I love birthdays. I love getting older, but I'll stop loving it when I turn like 23 or something. 18 and 21 are two milestones. As they sang the last of the song I pretended to have just woken up.

"Happy birthday sweetie" my mother said. "How did you sleep?" she asked as she put the tray on my bedside table. I always get to chose my birthday breakfast. This year I chose coffee, a glass of milk, two nutella sandwiches and a cinnamon bun, homemade of course. I sat up and leaned against my headboard. I reached out to grab the coffee, can't start my day without it.

"So the plan for today: grandma and grandpa are coming over and we all are going to eat lunch" my mother said and sat down on the bed. "You get to decide where of course" she continued.

"That sounds great" I gave a weak smile. Usually I would love to celebrate it with my family all day, but 18 is big and I want to celebrate with my friends also. It is a saturday after all and there ARE at least four parties tonight. "Have you planned ther entire day or will I have time to see my friends?" I asked. My mother reached out her arm and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"You have time for that too. But not until later, when we have had lunch and not until we have had fika" she said.

Yeah, the infamous fika. Fika is a tradition, so to speak, in Sweden. It's when you have coffee and cookies, a cinnamon bun perhaps, and if it's someones birthday, you eat cake. A swede gets fika a few times a day, they are big on coffee, I guess that's why I can't go a day without coffee. My mom is from Sweden and I grew up with swedish traditions. My dad is from Puerto Rico, I rarely ever see him. When I was six my parents got a divorce, he moved away with his new wife and I only see him like once a year. If even that sometimes. He almost never calls or comes to visit. My mom decided to stay here and not move back to Sweden, my grandparents come to visit almost once a month.

"Yeah of course. They said that they've planned things for tonight so I'm all yours until.." I took up my phone to read the text Jasper had sent me last night. "...7.30 and after that I'm out" I said and took a bite of my sandwich.

My mother laughed "I can work with that" she said.

"Yeah well while I'm here I'm gonna meet up with a few friends before lunch so just text me where" Oscar said. "Happy birthday sis, I'll see you later"

"I'm going with Oscar" Sebastian said and follow his brother out the door.

"I guess you have plans before lunch as well" My mother said to Daniel, and I could tell by his body language that he had plans.

"Just go Dan, I'll see all of you later today" I said with my mouth full. He hesitated by the door, I guess he felt guilty for leaving after getting here just this morning. "Seriously, go, it's fine!" I said.

"Happy birthday, Santana! Bye, mom"

"Well, now it's just you and me, birthday girl" she reached out for my coffee and took a sip. "Oh, that's so good" She was a coffee addict, my mother. Like me she couldn't function without her morning coffee. She took another sip.

"Give me my coffee back! Go get your own" I said and took the mug from her.

"Sorry, it's just so delicious" It got quiet for awhile, the only sound was me eating and drinking. "So..." my mother started. "Anyone special you want to invite for lunch?"

I snorted when I heard my mothers question. "No way mom" I snickerd as my mom looked at me.

"What did I say?" she asked totally oblivious. I still hadn't come out to my mom, and today wasn't the day.

"Nothing, it was nothing. Thanks for breakfast" I threw the covers off me and sat on the edge of my bed. "I'm gonna go and get ready for lunch" I walked towards the bathroom, I desperatly needed a hot shower.

"You haven't opened your present Santana" my mother called after me.

"I'll do it later mom!" I was already in the shower, whenever she started to talk about 'anyone special' I would leave the conversation as fast as possible. It was a subject I just couldn't talk about.

When I got out of the shower I had recieved the text I had been waiting for. "Happy birthday! 18 at last right? ;)"

"Thank you! Yeah I have been waiting for this day since I was born :D" I started to look through my clothes, I needed something for lunch and I needed to pick something out for tonight. It takes me ages to pick clothes out. Why didn't I do this last night?

"Now 21 is the birthday to look forward to :) So what's the plan for today? xoxo" No doubt 21 is the next milestone of birthdays and after that I wish I wouldn't age anymore.

"First there's lunch with the family, all my brothers are home and my grandparents flew in late last night. And tonight I'm not sure, my friends have something planned for us to do and as usual I'm not allowed to know anything until it's time. Xoxo" Considering I knew my friends really well we would have fun, no doubt about it.

Since it's my birthday I get to chose where to eat lunch, I pick the same restaurant every year. It's a seafood restaurant, and they have the best sushi in Columbus, which is my favorite food. Me and Jasper eat here at least once a week. Mom and I are the last to arrive, we've been going to this restaurant on my birthday for the past ten years and the staff know us now. We never have to make a reservation, they call us asking how many and what time. I will never love a restaurant more than I love this one, it's the restaurant of my life.

"Happy birthday Santana! I can't believe you're 18 already" my grandma says when I get to the table. She stands up to give me one of her warmest hugs. No one can hug like her, whenever I'm feeling sad a hug from her can make everything okay again.

"Thank you. I can't believe it either" I said when we pulled out of the hug. I walk over to my grandfather to give him a hug. He doesn't speak english very well, he understands it but he can't speak it. Whenever they come here or travel somewhere else it's my grandma that does the speaking. With my granddad I always speak swedish.

"Grattis på stora dagen" he says and hugs me. Since my dad left he kind of took on the responsability of a dad for me and my brothers and thaught us things our mom couldn't.

"Tack morfar" I sit down between my granddad and Daniel. It's so tradition, we always eat at the same place, sit at the same table, always sit on the same chair next to the same person and we always eat the same dish every year. For me it's the sushi, Oscar always have some pasta dish with seafood. It's tradition, same as every year. That's why I like it so much, I know that one day it will change, I will meet some, one of my brothers will, or the worst change, one of my grandparents die.

After we had our lunch we went back to our house for the birthday fika. My mom makes this a cake for every birthday, every year it's different. The theme of the cake is inspired by either something I've done or something I like, when I turned 16 she made the cake in a shape of a car. She should've become a baker really.

"So Santana what are the plans for tonight?" my grandmother ask me after we had our fika.

"I'm gonna meet up with my friends in a few hours, they've planned something for me" I say and take the last sip of coffee.

"Anyone special joining you?" she asks smiling. I hate that question, two times in one day. Do they know something? They can't, I'm not obvious about it. I looked at the time, it's only five which means I can't leave until at least seven. That's two hours away, I need to direct this conversation to someone else. Fast.

"Uh, no there's no one. Maybe you've met someone Daniel?" I say and turn to my oldest brother. He looks up from his phone, is he blushing?

"I don't know yet" he say. Oh, he met someone.

"Well, we are gonna talk about that later young, man" my grandma says, she turns her attention back to me. Looks like my plan didn't work. "So you are telling me there is no special guy in your life, Santana" she continues.

"No. Well there is grandad, and these three. And my friend Jasper of course" I say. I'm starting sweat excessively everywhere. These conversations made me extremely nervous.

"En tjej kanske?" my grandad chips in. Oh god, does he know? My palms were so sweaty right now the mug I'm holding is starting to slip in my hands.

"Yes, it could be a girl" my grandmother says.

"No, you would've told me then right?" my mom asks. Oh mom, how I wish I could tell you. It's just really difficult for me to say such thing out loud. I've barely said it out loud to myself.

"Sure, wow look at the time I need to get ready I got tons of stuff I need to do before I'm going out" I quickly take my mug and put it in the sink. "Thanks for the presents everyone, I'll see you later if not tomorrow. Bye!" I hurried myself out of the kitchen and up the stairs, I got in my room closed the door faster than ever before. For a few minutes I just stood there, leaned against my bedroom door, breathing heavy. I didn't move until I heard my phone buzz, it was a text from Jasper saying I should start to get ready for tonight. I lifted one arm to smell my armpit, I smelled enough that I decided I needed another shower. All the talk about the special one made nervous and I get really sweaty when nervous. I only had time for a quick shower, and it probably was for the best, I tend to overthink a lot in the shower. As I was getting dressed I got a new text.

_"Hey, I hope you've had a great birthday so far :) xoxo"_

_"Absolutely, I'm getting dressed for the next part of this day :P" _As I hit send a sudden realization came to me. I don't know her birthday, I don't really know much about her at all. _"Hey, I just realized that I don't know when your birthday is. Or much else about you :/"_ I have been texting this girl for the past three months, had we never spoken about ourselves? I didn't get further than that before my phone buzzed.

_"You are right. We have never really talked about oursekves.."_

_"What about this, we take turns asking each other questions that we would like to know about each other?"_

_"Yeah, I want to get to know you properly! :) What's your favorite color? xo" _I hate the favorite questions. I dont have just one favorite, it's always two or three of even more.

_"I don't have just one favorite color. I like blue, red and green :) wbu? When's your birthday? xo"_

"Santana!" I heard my mom shout from the bottom of the stairs. I opened my bedroom door to ask what she wanted when she called for me again.

"What is is?" I was still standing in my door opening.

"Jasper's at the door!" I took a quick look at the time, oh shit already 7.26, time really flew. I took time to read the text I had just recieved.

_"I love purple. It's july 2nd. What do you look for in a partner? xo" _I didn't have time to reply now, it would have to wait.

"I'll be down in a minute!" I shouted. I could hear Jasper snicker downstair, typically him interpret that in a dirty way. I finished getting dressed and quickly gathered all my stuff and ran down the stairs. "Hey, I'm ready. Where are we going?" I asked as I put my shoes on. My mom had a no shoe policy inside the house.

"Oh no, I'm not that easy" he said laughing.

"That's not what I heard" I shot back and his laughing stopped abruptly. The look of horror in his face made me laugh. "Relax I was kidding but by the look on your face I guess something did happen"

"Shut up, let's go! We haven't got all night" I turned around and started walking out of the house.

"Bye everybody!" I said and I was out the door before they had a chance to reply, I have been waiting for this night all week, Jasper's been hinting about it but he wouldn't give up any details. When I got into the backseat of Sophia's car I was overcame with happy birthday wishes by my friends.

"So, Santana" Sophia started the car. "Are you ready for the night of your life?"  
>_<p>

**Translation**  
><strong>Grattis på stora dagen - Congratulations on the big day, or happy birthday.<strong>  
><strong>Tack morfar - Thank you granddad.<strong>  
><strong>En tjej kanske? - A girl maybe?<strong>


End file.
